Berry tray



0. 0. EATON Jul 21, 1925.

BERRY TRAY Filed Feb. 9, 1922 FIGURE i FIGURE 2 INVENTOR FIGURE .3

FIGURES FIGURE 4 ATTORNEY Patented July fill,

uuirsu status isriassi GBEIN O. EATON, OF W'ATSONVILLE, CALIFORNIA.

BERRY TRAY.

Application filed February 9, 1922. Serial No. 535,250.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that f, Genny f). Enron, a citizen of the United fdtates, and resident of "Watsonville, in the county of tianta Cruz and State of California, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Berry Trays, of which the following is a specification.

In the marketing of berries it is customary to put them up in small boxes arranged in trays, and the trays in turn arranged in chests such as disclosed in my Patent No. 1,353,155, dated September 21, 1920. In distributing the berries from the chest in the type of trays now commonly used, it is difficult to prevent the berries in one tray from becoming crushed by the tray placed thereon since a slight n'iovement of the upper tray in either direction longitudinally will cause one end thereof to slip down upon the berries in the lower tray. When several trays from a chest are to be delivered from a distributing point considerable time and labor are required to properly build up the several trays so as to prevent injury to the contents thereof. Also, when the berries are placed on sale it has heretofore been necessary to display them in the chest. a method highly objectionable because of the room occupied by the chest and the difficulty of properly displayinc: the individual trays therein.

It is the object of my invention therefore, to provide a form of berry tray that will be free from the objections above set forth; that can be quickly and easily nested in any desired number for reshipment; that will at all times and under all conditions prevent one tray from slipping down upon the contents of the next lower tray; that will permit proper display of the berries independently of the chest; and that will at the same time provide for the proper circulation of air around the contents of the tray.

in the drawing Figure 1 is a side elevation of two nested trays embodying my improvements.

Figure 2 is an end view of the same.

Figure 3 is a side elevation of two nested trays showing another embodiment of my invention.

Figure 4: is an enlarged detail section on l--il of Figure 2.

Figure 5 is an enlarged detail section of the embodiment shown in Figure 3.

Referring more particularly to the drawing, 1-2 indicates the two end pieces of a tray, each end piece having its outer surface perpendicular and its inner surface beveled as at 3 and 1 respectively, so that the bevel surfaces H face inwards as shown.

At 5-5--5 are bottom members nailed to,

the bottom edges of end pieces 1 and 2 and spaced apart as shown. Two members 6-43 are secured to the edges of end pieces 1 and 2 to form sides for the tray.

Arranged transversely across the bottom of the tray and on a line with the lower edge of the beveled surfaces thereof are cleats 7 and 8, the said cleats being of the proper cross sectional size and conformation to fit on the inside of the upper portion ofthe end pieces 12 of the tray below. In the embodiment shown in Figure 3, the perpen dicular sides 33 of the end pieces 12 are two standard sizes of shipping chests that vary but little in sine, but yet vary suilieiently to malro it impossible to use them both successfully with the same size of berrybaslrets. If the larger size of chest is to be used then the tray is assembled as shown in Figure 3, the distance between the perpendlcular sides 3-3 of end pieces 1-2 being such as to snugly accommodate a given number of berry baskets 12, in this case live. If,

now, the smaller chest is to be used then the tray is assembled as shown in Figure 1, the distance between the upper inner edges of end pieces 1-2 being the same as the dis tance between the perpendicular surfaces 3 in Figure 3, and therefore snugly accommodating the same number of baskets, namely, live. This is true, of course, because in the shorter tray shown in Figure 1 the bevelled surfaces 4 of the end pieces 1-2 have the same slope as the baskets arranged therein.

It is clear from the above disclosure that a tray can be quickly and strongly made and several trays easily stacked in perfect alignment by this method of assembly.

Upon the delivery of a chest to a retail point the trays may be quickly removed therefrom and stacked up by themselves thereby making a better display and occupy ing less space than when they are retained in the chest. This method of display is rendered possible by the engaging cleat construction which effectually eliminates the liability of damage to the berries by slipping of the trays. By means of this construction two or more trays may be temporarily fastened together by end cleats as 10 and fitted with a top as 11 thereby forming a solid shipping package capable of being transported Without danger of injury to the contents.

The particular method of attaching the bottom members and cleats to the end pieces is desirable because it permits ventilation through spaces 11 and utilizes the full width of end pieces 12 for supporting bottom elements 555.

It is to be understood, of course, that While I have herein SllOWll and described one particular embodiment of my invention, that disclosure is to be considered as illustrative only and in no Way to limit the scope of the invention as set forth in the appended claim, since changes in form and construction may be made Without departing from the spirit of the invention.

I claim A berry tray comprising end pieces, each end piece having one face oppositely directed and in parallel relation to the corresponding face of the other end pieces, and one face bevelled from the top downwardly whereby to increase the thickness of the lower portion thereof, side and bottom slats arranged on said end pieces to space the same, and means arranged at the bottom of each end piece to engage the narrow upper edge of the tray placed therebeloiv.

ORRIN O. EATON 

